Why Renters Use More Electricity

Energy Star appliances are far more common in owner-occupied dwellings, data show. Why do people buy inefficient refrigerators and clothes washers when spending a little more for an efficient one would save them money over time through lower electricity or water bills? There are a variety of reasons, but one that is persistently cited is that people are not necessarily buying these appliances for themselves. Often the buyer is a landlord, and the user is a tenant who does not make the choice but faces the consequences because he receives the energy bill. Now research by Lucas W. Davis and David I. Levine , economists at the Haas School of Business of the University of California, Berkeley, have attached numbers to that hypothesis, calculating how much more likely an owner-occupied dwelling is to have an Energy Star appliance than a rental unit is. The disparities are consi...